20 Movie Sequels That Took WAY Too Long
4. The Old Guard 2
Given that direct-to-streaming blockbusters have a particular air of disposability about them, it's especially important that they knock out a sequel or two in short order to ensure that audiences don't forget they ever saw the original.
Case in point, Netflix's superhero thriller The Old Guard released in 2020 and ended with a blatant sequel tease. By January 2021, the streamer had greenlit The Old Guard 2 with most major cast members expected to return.
Though the sequel was shot in the summer of 2022, it didn't end up releasing for another three years, due to post-production being shut down for a lengthy period amid unspecified "regime changes" at Netflix, according to producer-star Charlize Theron.
And so, almost exactly five years passed between the two films, which is an absolute lifetime when considering the shelf life of your average streaming genre flick.
By the time The Old Guard 2 came out, folk couldn't even remember if they'd seen the original, and to make matters worse this sequel also ended on a cliffhanger setting up a third film which may or may not ever actually get made.